Improvement in roofing



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IMPROVEMENT IN ROOFING.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 56.7511, dated July 31, 1866.

To all whom it may concern.'

. Be it known that I, Josnrn F. HoDesoN, of Washington city, District of Columbia, have invented a new and Improved Mode of Applying Copper Boong; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure l is a top view of my improved copper roof. Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the same. Fig. 3 is a perspective View of one of the blocks to which the copper is applied. Fig. 4. is a perspective view, showing a sheet of copper bent in a proper form for applying it to the roof.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

Thisinvention relates to a new and improved Inode of applying copper to roofs, whereby the expansion and contraction of the sheets of copber by extremes of temperature will not have a tendency to tear open the joints and cause the roof to leak.

The nature of my invention consists in applying sheets of copper to roofs by bending the edges of the sheets over angular blocks that are applied firmly to the sheathing, and securing said edges permanently in dovetail grooves by. means of solder or other fusible 4 metal, which will, when properly applied, form inverted wedges in said grooves and effectually prevent the drawing out of the edges of the copper by the contraction of the sheets, as will be hereinafter described.

To enable others skilled in the art to understand my invention,` I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

Under the old method of covering roofs with sheets of copper the sheets are spread upon the sheathing and their edges turned up. Each sheet is nailed down preparatory to forming the joints by means of straps, which are looped over the turned-up edges. The edges of the sheets are then folded over and a double lap-joint formed, which is tinned and soldered. This mode of applying the sheets is objectionable on account of a want of strength and tightness. The extremes of heat and cold to which roofs are subjected cause contraction and expansion of the copper sheets, and soon tear open the seams and render the roofs leaky and loose and liable to be blown off in stormy weather.

To remedy these evils I take sheets of copper of any suitable size, and by means of suitable machinery I turn up their edges, as shown in Fig. 4. This may readily be done by having a rectangular block of metal of the proper size with its edges perpendicular to its face, upon which block the sheets are suitably clamped, after which their edges are bent over and their corners lapped, as shown at c, Fig. 4L. Every sheet is bent in this manner and its edges properly tinned preparatory to applying it to the roof. I now take rectangular blocks B of wood, which are the exact shape and size of the bent sheets A above described, and bevel the edgesof these blocks, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when two or more of the blocks'are placed upon the roof or sheathing C, as shown in Figs 1 and 2, dovetail grooves will be left between the said edges. The blocks B are nailed down firmly upon the sheathing and the nails clinched preparatory to applying the sheets of copper to them, so that these blocks shall not be liable to become loose by warping.

When the beveled-edge blocks are suitably secured upon the sheathing the copper plates, prepared as shown in Fig. 4, are slipped over them, and the edges of these plates bent and hammered into the dovetail grooves, as shown clearly inFig. 2. This is done by means of a tool which will bend the edges of the sheets under the beveled edges of the blocks B, and

also spread out the lower edges of the sheets, so that the edges of one sheet will lap over the edges of its adjacent sheet and cover the bottoms of the grooves, thus completely lining those grooves. The sheets, when thus applied, may be nailed down by driving the nails through the lower angles of the grooves, as shown in Fig. 2, after which the grooves are completely filled with solder or any other suitable fusible metal, which will become hard upon cooling and form the metallic wedges b. (Shown in Figs. l and 2.)

If it isd an object to save the fusible metal, metal pipes may be introduced into the dovetail grooves after the sheets have been applied, and these pipes beaten down, so as to lill up the bottoms of said grooves, and thus enable me to use less of the fusible metal. Other modes may be adopted for coniining the bent grooves; but I prefer to use the metallic cement or tinners solder, and to iill the grooves With such metal,pso as to leave the entire surface of the roof perfectly fiat and smooth.

It Will be seen from the above description of my invention that every sheet of copper is secured independently of the other sheets, and that the strain upon the sheets caused .by their contraction will be sustained by the acute angles of their supporting-blocks B, and also by inverted metallic Wedges, which are closely -/coiiined in dovetail grooves, so as to render their Withdrawal impossible.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is l y ll. In the construction of metallic r'ooiing, securing the edges of the sheets of metal in dovetail grooves by means of a fusible metal, s'ubstantially as described.

2. The use of blocks B, having beveled edges applied to the sheathing of the roof, for the purpose of supporting the sheets of metal and forming dovetail grooves for receiving the edges of said sheets and also the fusible metal, substantially as described.

JOSEPH F. HODGSON.

Witnesses:

Jos. IEGK, E. N. BUTTON. 

